Summer is here! To help bookstores and libraries encourage summer reading, we’ve put together this roundup of 12 YA novels to spotlight during July and August—and year-round.
Vine Leaves Press | July 9, 2024
Distributor: Ingram
ISBN: 9783988320711
In this YA novel, eighteen-year-old Lena “must repair a fractured friendship, embrace the support of unexpected allies, and relearn how to trust herself.”
The Heron Witch by Marnie Reed Crowell
Green Writers Press | February 25, 2025
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group
ISBN: 9798988382041
According to Doug Tallamy, this young adult novel based on tracking data from a real-life Great Blue heron is a “delightful tale about a city girl’s adventures in a Maine fishing village.”
The Ascenditure by Robyn Dabney
Regal House Publishing/Fitzroy Books | May 14, 2024
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group
ISBN: 9781646034758
In this YA novel, “Klarke Ascher has a singular goal: to become an Ascenditure, a member of the kingdom’s elite climbing team who scale the treacherous peaks of Miter’s Backbone in search of an elusive medicine.”
Celia in the Revolution by Elena Fortún
Translated from the Spanish by Michael Ugarte
Swan Isle Press | January 15, 2024
Distributor: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9781736189368
In the final book in Fortún’s Celia series, set during the Spanish Civil War, “Celia, now a madrecita, a little mother to her two younger sisters since the death of their mother, is forced into a life of hardship.”
Ghost Brother by Sylvia Sánchez Garza
Arte Público Press | October 31, 2024
Distributor: Arte Público Press
ISBN: 9798893750065
This young adult novel “explores death, grief, and the supernatural folklore of Mexican Americans in South Texas.”
The Closest Thing to a Normal Life by Michael Méndez Guevara
Arte Público Press/Piñata Books | May 31, 2025
Distributor: Arte Público Press
ISBN: 9798893750133
This YA novel set in San Antonio, Texas, deals with “the loss of loved ones, prejudice, and the clash of social mores.”
The Collagist by Karen Holmberg
Regal House Publishing/Fitzroy Books | April 23, 2024
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group
ISBN: 9781646034369
In this debut YA novel, “Romilly must convince her father to dismantle the wall to his greatest secret, and that of the Being that exists in the world beyond.”
Spinoza: The Outcast Thinker by Devra Lehmann
Seven Stories Press | August 13, 2024
Distributor: Penguin Random House
ISBN: 9781644212622
This biography for young adults is “an entertaining and accessible introduction to the radical philosopher of freedom of thought and religion.”
Seven Stories Press | September 17, 2024
Distributor: Penguin Random House
ISBN: 9781644213988
This YA novel is about what it means to “‘contain multitudes’—to love both men and women, to defend your mixed-race family in the American South, to care for someone who experiences the world in fundamentally different ways than you do.”
The Civilization by K. M. McKenzie
Iskanchi Press | October 30, 2024
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group
ISBN: 9781957810225
In this YA fantasy novel, 17-year-old Kadsa “enters a realm of dark forces, ancient deities, and looming annihilation” on a mission to save her grandfather.
Under the Light of Fireflies by Lee Sanders
Catalyst Press | January 21, 2025
Distributor: Consortium Book Sales & Distribution
ISBN: 9781963511017
This debut YA novel is “about a tiger, a Russian, a model airplane, unexplainable disaster, and a bewildered twelve-year-old boy just trying to find his place in the world.”
Our Bodies Electric by Zackary Vernon
Regal House Publishing/Fitzroy Books | June 4, 2024
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group
ISBN: 9781646034574
Our Bodies Electric is “a coming-of-age story that celebrates the exuberance of youth, the individual quest for sexual identity, and the joy of finding connections in the most unexpected of places.”
